Varenyam Achal is an Associate Professor appointed by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He joined GTIIT's Environmental Engineering Program in September 2018. Prof. Achal was awarded a PhD from Thapar University, India. Prior to joining GTIIT, he was Professor at East China Normal University, Shanghai. He was Assistant Professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) between 2010 and 2012 during which he also obtained International Young Scientist fellowship from CAS. Dr. Achal has a very board interest in environmental biotechnology and biological based building materials. He has authored more than 50 SCI papers in journals of repute along with several book chapters and one book. He is member of the Editorial Board of Socio-Ecological Practice Research and has been Guest Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology. Some of his original research has had a global impact on microbially induced calcite precipitation and attracted worldwide attention.

• Environmental Microbiology

• Bioremediation of Organics and Inorganics from Soil and Water

• Soil Heavy Metal Pollution

• Ecological Restoration and Environmental Sustainability

• Microbial-Based Sustainable Building Materials

        

Papers

Fang C., Kumari D, Zhu X., Achal V.* (2018) Role of fungal-mediated mineralization in biocementation of sand and its improved compressive strength. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 133: 216-220.

Li M., Zhu X., Mukherjee A., Huang M., Achal V.* (2017) Biomineralization in metakaolin modified cement mortar to improve its strength with lowered cement content. Journal of Hazardous Materials 329: 178-184.

Qian X., Fang C., Huang M, Achal V.* (2017) Characterization of fungal-mediated carbonate precipitation in biomineralization of chromate and lead from aqueous solution and soil. Journal of Cleaner Production 164: 198-208.

Zhu X., Li W., Zhan L., Huang M., Zhang Q., Achal V.* (2016) The large-scale process of microbial carbonate precipitation for nickel remediation from an industrial soil. Environmental Pollution 219: 149-155.

Achal V.*, Mukherjee A., Zhang Q. (2016) Unearthing ecological wisdom from natural habitats and its ramifications on development of biocement and sustainable cities. Landscape and Urban Planning 155: 61-68.

Books

Achal V., Mukherjee A. (2018) Ecological Wisdom in Restoration Engineering. Springer, Singapore (ISBN 978-981-13-0149-0).